I’m still here!

I didn’t even visit my blog to see the last time I posted anything, making me guiltier than I already am. Talk about slacking off. And the blog wasn’t the only one paying for it: I slacked off pretty hard all over the place. No exercise, ate cheese, had alcohol, tested my blood sugars 2 or 3 times a day instead of my usual 6 to 10, ate a lot of processed vegetarian restaurant food and yes, I felt like crap. I got back on the bandwagon over the last week, so my energy levels have gone up, my blood sugars have gone down and I feel better overall. Thank goodness.

I wish I could explain to you what happened, but I don’t know. It’s like someone turned my healthy switch off and I was living for instant gratification. The coffee, the bagels, the sweet processed pastries, the noodles, the salted nuts… all because I was bored, tired, unmotivated. It’s not the first time this happens to me. I find that my healthy bursts come in waves where I’ll be super careful for several months and then, all of a sudden, I’m drinking coffee and alcohol and eating processed crap.

I’m not sure how to stop this. I equate this to yo-yo dieting and I’m 100% sure that it’s not healthy for me. Aside from all this, I recently passed some blood tests and the doctor wants to see me to talk about my cholesterol. Safe to say I wasn’t really surprised (I’ve been a huge cheese-eater my entire life) but I’m most scared that he’s going to try to put me on cholesterol-lowering drugs and I’m going to have to sit there and refuse and convince him that I could lower my cholesterol all alone, using wholesome plant-based nutrition. And then I think to the future and ask myself if my hard work towards lowering my cholesterol will get sabotaged by my tendency to slack off after a certain amount of time…

Anyways, it just feels good to be back and I’m already preparing for my next blog post which should go up sometime this week. I’m on vacation from work all week so this will give some much-needed “me” time and a chance to get my health into gear for the season. Hope you all enjoyed your Labour Day weekend!

Oh, Canada!

Just a tiny mid-week post today to check in with you all. Are there any diabetics out there who read my blog? Do you ever have a great blood sugar streak for a few days and then get stuck with a few results that are way off the grid? I just went through something like that. Not the first time in my life, but the first time since going plant-based. I just couldn’t get a grip on my blood sugars! I’m usually anywhere between 5 and 10 (I usually start to feel the effects of hyperglycemia around 11 or 12) but for the past week or so, I just couldn’t bring myself lower than 14. It was awful! I felt tired and run-down a lot, not to mention thirsty and irritable. In my defense, I was battling a little infection and went to New York City on Sunday, but it was only yesterday that my glucose readings were back to normal and I felt like my old self again. Have any of you experienced this? How do you deal with these periods? I try to up my vegetable content during this time but it doesn’t always work. Ah, the trials and tribulations of diabetic living.

On a separate note, it is July 1st, and that means that it is Canada Day! I’d like to wish a fun, safe and vegtastic Canada Day to my fellow Canuck readers! I started my day off with this absolutely delicious smoothie of organic mangoes, frozen bananas, coconut milk, coconut manna, collard greens and ground flax. Absolutely delicious!

For supper, my wonderful mom made some delicious black bean hamburgers with some oven roasted potatoes. I’m very grateful for this beautiful day off and I hope you all have a great week!

Good news!

Oh my god, guys. I got such good news over the last week and I feel so bad for not updating this, given how excited I was, and still am! So, first good news: I lost 6 pounds! It may not seem like much, but to lose it so effortlessly and healthfully?! That’s a huge deal! I felt a little smaller in my clothes lately, and since I refuse to weigh myself, I just had to guess that I may have lost a couple pounds. But once my dietician weighed me, it was official. She was ecstatic. It’s extremely important for diabetics to lose unwanted fat, especially around the waist. If I keep this up, I may end up at my goal weight in a year from now. I’m so excited!

Second bit of good news: I went to see my endocrinologist last Tuesday and I found out that my HbA1C lowered from 9.3 to 8.6! AND he even lowered my thyroid medication! Like, seriously?! Best news ever! I know that I’ve been trying super hard to get my blood sugar readings under better control, and my new veggie-powered life has definitely facilitated that. But I’m not 100% sure as to how I managed to lower my thyroid medication. I’ve done a lot of research and worked with my dietician to add more iodine to my diet (seaweeds, mostly, and iodized salts along with selenium) but I think it may also be the fact that my diet now consists of at least 80% organic foods. Because I avoid conventionally grown fruits and veggies, I drastically decrease my consumption of pesticide and insecticide residues (you’d be surprised at how much of that crap we ingest!), most of which are hormone disruptors. And what does the thyroid gland take care of? That’s right, hormones. So, there’s my theory. But I’m planning on getting blood tests done at my local clinic in a couple of weeks to check for my vitamin and mineral intakes (maybe even convince them to check my C-reactive protein).

I’m hoping to be down 10 pounds by the end of the summer and continue with my blood sugar control. Maybe my thyroid medication will decrease once more next time I see my doctor! I see a lot of possibilities for the future, and I’m so motivated right now!

Oh, by the way, I’ve been to several vegan restaurants over the past few weeks so I’m going to post some of my epicurean adventures! I’m so proud to show off some of the great vegan restaurants Montreal has to offer.